(CNNPhilippines) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 18)— The delivery of the first batch of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines has been pushed back due to logistical issues.
Instead of June 21, Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the arrival of 250,000 doses in the country has been moved to June 25.
“Normally ‘yung nagiging problema natin is ‘yung transpo pati ‘yung logistical challenges,” Galvez told a media briefing on Friday. “It’s only four days delayed and normal naman ‘yan sa lahat ng vaccines natin, nagkakaroon ng mga delays na hindi natin maiiwasan.”
[Translation: Normally, the problems we encounter are transportation and logistical challenges. It’s only four days delayed and that’s normal for all of our vaccines, we encounter and we can’t avoid delays.]
This would be the first shipment of the US-made vaccine brand in the country. From this batch, 100,000 doses will be given to the private sector, while 150,000 will be for the government.
Galvez added that one million more Moderna doses are expected to arrive in July, while two million will be shipped by September.
The Philippines in March signed a tripartite agreement with the American company for 20 million doses of its vaccine — with 13 million shots secured by the government while the remaining seven million were ordered by the private sector.
More vaccine supply deals are also being finalized, according to Galvez.
“I’d like to announce also na (that) more or less ‘yung (the) remaining supply agreements, ‘yung sa (for) Pfizer, also with J&J and even Novavax, we’ll be closing it siguro (maybe) within the week or next week,” he said… Read More
